Maynard, MA, USA: Beacon-Villager newspaper column on local history, observations on nature and recreational activities, plus an occasional health-related article. Columns from 2009-11 collected into book "MAYNARD: History and Life Outdoors." Columns from 2012-14 collected into book "Hidden History of Maynard." - David A. Mark

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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Boston Post Cane - Maynard and Stow

The Boston Post was a popular and influential newspaper some
100+ years ago. In 1909, Edwin Grozier,
the publisher, decided to promote the newspaper by donating ebony shaft, gold-capped
canes to the Boards of Selectmen of 700 towns in Massachusetts,
Maine, New Hampshire
and Rhode Island. Engraved on the top of the gold head of each
cane were the words "Presented by The Boston Post to the OLDEST CITIZEN of
__________ [name of town and state] (To be transmitted)."

The idea was that the towns would award these BOSTON POST
CANES to the oldest male citizen for the remainder of his life, to be returned
to the town upon his death, to be awarded to the next oldest, and so on.

Maynard's Boston Post Cane (click on photo to enlarge). This cane was
presented to Maynard in 1909, awarded to a series of men in honor for
being the oldest male resident, went missing in 1928 and was recovered
in 1981. Honoring the oldest resident (male or female) started again in 1999.

The canes were made by J.F. Fradley and Co., a New York City silversmith
and cane maker. Joseph F. Fradley (1843-1914) began a silversmith business in
1866. His business had an excellent reputation. J.F. Fradley items appear for
sale in fine arts and crafts auctions.
The business was managed by his son, George F. Fradley, at the time the canes were
made. Although many of the newspaper articles about recipients of Boston Post
Canes describe the cane heads as 14 karat gold, some of the internet photos
show wear to reveal non-gold metal underneath, confirming that the cane heads
were gold-plated rather than all gold. This makes sense. Gold, rather than gold
plated, would have made the canes prohibitively expensive, even back in
1909.

Women achieved the right to vote in 1920, but it took ten
more years before The Boston Post approved a changing of the rules to allow
women to be awardees.

The Boston Post went out of business in 1956, but the Boston
Post Cane tradition continues in many towns. As years went by some of the canes
were misplaced, stolen, sold, lost or destroyed. Some went missing for years,
decades even, only to surface again. In time, most towns decided to keep the
original cane in a town office or at the local historical society, and either
discontinue the practice entirely or else award a plaque to the oldest resident
in lieu of the cane.

The BostonPostCaneInformationCenter
[http://web.maynard.ma.us/bostonpostcane/], maintained by the Maynard
Historical Society has become a clearinghouse for all things BPC. The starting
point was a 1985 article written by Maynard historian Ralph Sheridan. After his
death in 1996, David Griffin took up the traces, and still gathers news of
canes lost, found and awarded.

Side view, showing ebony shaft of the cane. "Ebony"
comes from the heartwood of several species of tropical,
slow-growing trees. It is black or near-black in color, and
extremely dense (will sink in water). The tree species are
endangered, and in many countries, harvesting or selling
of ebony is illegal. Well known uses include the
black keys of pianos, and parts of stringed instruments.

A few facts plucked from the BPC website: As of last count,
517 towns continue or have resumed honoring their oldest citizens. Most have
the original canes gifted them in 1909, but some are using brass-capped
mahogany replicas purchased from the Town of Peterborough, NH. Some towns
stipulate that to qualify, a person must be a current resident and living in
the town the past 10 or 15 years. Watertown's
cane went missing in 1910, and did not return until 99 years later. At the time
Mary Josephine Ray of Westmorland, NH, passed away, age 114.8, she was not only the oldest
ever holder of a Boston Post Cane, but also the oldest person in the United States.

Stow's
Boston Post Cane is kept in the Town Vault in the Town Hall building, along
with other historically important artifacts. Recipients are presented with a
Boston Post Cane lapel pin. The cane had gone missing 1951 to 1971. Actually,
it was in the Vault all the time, but misplaced. Since 1971 there have been 12
recipients. The most recent was Dr. Donald Freeman Brown - awarded the cane
when he reached 99 years. He passed away in 2014, age 105. The honor and lapel
pin have not yet been awarded to a new oldest resident.

Top of cane showing non-gold metal. This may be silver. If so,there may have been layers of copper and nickel between thesilver and gold, to prevent tarnish bleeding through the gold.

Maynard's Boston Post Cane is on permanent display at the
town building. It had gone missing around 1928, not recovered until 1981. In
1999 the Maynard Historical Society decided to revive the tradition of honoring
Maynard’s oldest citizen by presenting him or her with a plaque from the
Maynard Board of Selectmen. The most recent five: Elizabeth Dodd, Dorothy
Barlow, Arlene Cook, Mildred F. Duggan, and currently Ben Sofka. Ben, a
life-long Maynard resident, received his plaque in February 2017, and is at
present 101 years old.

Stow's
and Maynard's neighbors do and do not continue the Boston Post Cane tradition. Hudson, Harvard and Sudbury
awards plaques to their most senior citizens. Acton is considering restarting the same
practice. Bolton and Boxborough apparently do
not participate, either because these towns had too small a population to get a
cane back in 1909, or because the original canes went astray. Starting in 1962,
Concord decided
to change to an annual Honored Citizen Celebration. The awardee is steward of
the Boston Post Cane for a year and leads the Patriots' Day Parade.